“I only wear the lipstick during games,” she said in such a matter-of-fact way, her questioner felt embarrassed not to have known.

Now, for one year at least, Los Angeles will have a chance to get reacquainted with one of its greatest female basketball stars. The Sparks formally introduced the former USC and Morningside High star at a press conference Thursday morning at the Grammy’s Hall of Fame at L.A. Live.

Like many of the greats immortalized on the walls of the auditorium, Thompson and her new Sparks teammate Lisa Leslie are hoping to collaborate on one more hit tune before they retire.

Leslie, 36, announced last month that this season would be her last.

Thompson, the second leading scorer in WNBA history, said Thursday she’d signed a multi-year contract with the Sparks, but would evaluate her status after the season.

Thompson, 34, has played her entire 12-year WNBA career with the Houston Comets, where she won four championships, but was left without a team in November when the Comets abruptly folded.

She briefly considered retirement after last season, but took a few months off to rest and recover after the long season before making a final decision.

“I was pretty beat up after last year. My body just wasn’t feeling good,” she said. “But I feel rested now. I feel so much better.”

The Sparks wasted little time in trying to convince Thompson to come home.

Toler took the lead in recruiting Thompson, who also considered San Antonio, Washington and Connecticut. Then there was a full-court press from all the Sparks. Leslie, her teammate at USC in 1993-94 and many times over the years for USA Basketball, cornered her at the NBA All-Star Game.

Candace Parker, the Sparks young star and reigning league MVP who is expected to miss the early part of the season after she gives birth to her first child in May, took a less aggressive approach.

“We’re actually very close,” Thompson said of Parker. “We spend quite a bit of time together and we have a relationship outside of basketball. I think she’s probably the only person that didn’t push me to a team or anything, because our friendship is so much more than the basketball side of it.”

All the attention was nice, but ultimately the chance to come home and play in front of her family and friends is what tipped the scales in the Sparks favor.

Her mother, Lady, has shuttled between Los Angeles and Houston during her WNBA career, but now will get to stay home and watch her play. Thompson’s 89-year old grandmother, Lucille, still lives in the same West Los Angeles house as she did during Thompson’s childhood.

“I have great relationship with my grandmother; she’s probably my most favorite person in the world, so I get back here as much as possible to see her,” she said.

The biggest question now is how Sparks coach Michael Cooper will harness his female Dream Team on the court.